Obama’s Nobel Prize? Not so fast.

The Nobel committee tossed off a shocker today, giving President Barack Obama the Peace Prize after less than a year in office.

The reason? Mr. Obama’s “extraordinary efforts to strengthen international diplomacy and cooperation between peoples.”

The real reason? He’s not George W. Bush.

It may be that during his tenure in the Oval Office, the President will earn a Nobel Peace Prize, but he certainly hasn’t yet.

His one accomplishment so far has been putting a friendlier face on American foreign policy, and bolstering the public image of the U.S. abroad.

That’s not insignificant. Europeans loathed W. And by not being W., O. has gained a lot of good will.

But the Obama Effect hasn’t yet produced a single significant diplomatic or human rights victory.

Perhaps Mr. Obama’s most significant action has been a concession: namely, the decision to scrap a land-based missile shield in eastern Europe.

That project was deeply unpopular in Western Europe and Russia and mothballing it may have contributed to this decision.

The Nobel committee acknowledged that “it wanted to enhance Mr. Obama’s diplomatic efforts so far rather than anticipate events in the future,” according to the New York Times.

But awards of this prestige should be used to recognize accomplishment, not as lobbying tools.

Is Mr. Obama in a league with Elie Wiesel, Nelson Mandela, and Mikhail Gorbachev? Maybe someday, but certainly not yet.

Your thoughts? Comment below. (And remember, please keep it civil.)